I have a mustang and quarter horse (both barefoot) and had been dealing with what I thought may be thrush issues. (white around the frog, strong bad odor) Yesterday when picking out their feet their soles started coming off in chunks (about 1/4 inch thick at a time and as big around as quarters to siler dollars) Underneath the sole is white and no heat. Neither are lame or sore and allow their feet to be looked at, touched and are not sensitive. In order to clean out the muck and such the hoof sole comes with it although it is not terribly crumbly. I have never seen anything like this before. I live in the panhandle of Texas, we have not had a rain in weeks. They are not stalled and have a dry sandy turnout. Any thoughts on what may be going on?

When was the last time they were trimmed? I can't really think of what to tell you unless I can see a picture. Have you treated them with a thrush medication? What color are their hooves? And both horses have the same ailment?

They were trimmed about 5 weeks ago. Both horses have the same issue. The mare is dark hard black hooves and my QH has 3 black hooves and one white. The issue is happening in all hooves on both horses. I will take pictures later this evening but to describe until then they look like they are in decent condition until you start picking them out and the chunks of sole start coming off. Once new sole is exposed it is not really soft and looks similar to when a horse is shod. They have had bad cracks and chips lately which for my mustang is not very common. I will try and post pictures soon

I am guessing it is probably just exfoliating sole, that perhaps due to weather, incorrect trimming, lack of exercise, for eg, has been retained & now coming off in chunks.

This sort of thing could be also 'false sole' from massive subsolar abscessing, which has burst a while ago, new sole has since grown & now the old is sloughing away. But this extent of solar bruising/abscessing usually goes with founder, which I hope you'd be aware of if happening & it is also very unlikely that both horses & all feet would suffer this at the same time anyway.

Given that you also mention cracking & chips lately, I would be considering their diet & nutrition and how often & how well they're trimmed. Perhaps your farrier's no good, or not trimming often enough(what's the schedule?). Perhaps their diet is causing lami to weaken their hooves or nutrition is deficient or imbalanced... Pics showing a variety of angles and more info re management & feeding would help if you'd like more specific info.

I agree just shedding their soles is what sounds like. It's completely normal. Change of weather or really wet grounds that dry up extremely hard can cause them to shed.

You can brush the sole that's loose and when the rest of it comes off you'll see white hard shiney sole that will be alive. In that case they might get a little tender footed if exposing live sole that isn't calloused yet.Posted via Mobile Device

Thank you for the replies. I am having issues with my computer and getting pictures on it. I appreciate the feedback and with those thoughts shedding sole would make sense. I am treating with kopertox (spelling? -sorry) and there already seems to be imporvement. New hoof underneath looks healthy. I am reevaluating diet and have already contacted another farrier.

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